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OVERVIEW

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Brief Synopsis

When a gang of thieves ambushes a stagecoach that is enroute to Gold Gap, they discover that the coach has already been robbed by a lone gentleman bandit, whom the townspeople call "the rogue of the range." The bandit, really Dan Doran, a stranger who arrived in Gold Gap two months before, eludes the gang and hides the $10,000 loot. He then rescues a runaway gospel wagon driven by an ingenue named Tess, whose grandfather, a parson, is sleeping in the back. Finding the man dead, Dan takes Tess to town, where he puts her in the care of Stella Lamb. Stella, a saloon singer, loves Dan, but when he describes Tess as a delicate piece of china who is a class above him, Stella fears that Dan will never reciprocate her love. After the sheriff, Tom, finds Dan's horseshoe on the stagecoach trail, he arrests him for the robbery. Although Dan confesses where he hid the money, the gang finds it before Tom can get to it. After Dan gives Stella the bill of sale to his land claim and some cash for Tess to open a diner, she and Stella open the Gold Nugget Cafe. Gruff-mannered bank owner Lars Branscomb, meanwhile, courts the innocent Tess. In prison, Dan befriends Jim Mitchell, who is a member of the gang. By convincing a prison guard named Pinky that he still has the loot, Dan gets Pinky to help him and Mitchell escape. The gang then recruits Dan, who learns that half of their profits goes to an unnamed man who has been tipping them off as to when the express line will be carrying large amounts of cash. The newspapers report Jim and Dan's escape and offer a reward for information leading to their arrest. Dan secretly visits Stella and tells her that he is a G-man. He asks her to bring Tom to him so he can update him on the gang's activities and also explains that Mitchell was arrested so that Dan could infiltrate the gang. While Dan hides in Tess's bedroom, she comes home from a date with Branscomb, who frightens her by coming into her bedroom, but then proposes. Stella and Tom walk in on them, and Stella is outraged, but is silenced when Branscomb insinuates that Stella brought Tom home for an illicit meeting. Dan emerges from a closet with his pistol drawn and, in order to keep up his criminal front, accuses Stella of double-crossing him, then escapes. Tom follows Dan, and they pretend to exchange gunfire. Dan then reveals to Tom his suspicions that Branscomb is the gang's anonymous leader because cash shipments issued out of Branscomb's bank have been stolen repeatedly from the express stageline, but all his losses have been paid by the express company. Before Branscomb's men can rob the express again, Tom warns the express office, and when the bandits ambush the express, they discover only iron washers in the stage's coffers. Meanwhile, Tess agrees to marry Branscomb the next day in neighboring Jimtown. Branscomb sees Dan talking with Tom and orders the gang to kill Dan. Unaware that his true identity has been discovered, Dan meets with the gang, and when they talk of ways of torturing spies, he escapes. As night falls, the robbers chase Dan, but when it gets too dark, they return to their shack to prepare to skip town. Before they can do so, Tom arrests them. The next day, as Stella and Tess ride with Branscomb to Jimtown for the wedding, Stella drops Tess's wedding bonnet. When Branscomb stops to retrieve it, Stella takes the reigns and races off without him. Branscomb walks back to town and finds a note from Dan telling him he is cornered. Branscomb returns to the shack and writes a note to the gang asking them if they have killed Dan and instructing them to go to Pine Hill Road. Dan enters and fights Branscomb, knocking him out. Taking the note as evidence, Dan goes to the cafe. There he finds Stella preparing Tess to marry him. Instead of marrying Tess, Dan proposes to Stella, asking her to move on with him and leave the cafe to Tess.